


It's Not Easy

by HeyItsEm (MrsHalstead_Soffer)



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Original Character Death(s), Tucy, chenford, comfort cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:09:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29587020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsHalstead_Soffer/pseuds/HeyItsEm
Summary: After a tough shift, Lucy Chen seeks comfort.
Relationships: Tim Bradford & Lucy Chen, Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 4
Kudos: 92





	It's Not Easy

**Author's Note:**

> Though the drug mentioned/used in this story does not directly effect this OTP, I am posting the number for the SAMHSA's National Hotline. 
> 
> Drug Abuse National Hotline: 1-800-662-4357
> 
> If you happen to have a family member that uses, please think about carrying Narcan or something similar (it's easy to get! You can request it at your local pharmacy! no prescription needed!) it could save their life.

Lucy Chen’s foot slammed on the pedal beneath her feet, hitting the brakes, throwing open the driver side door before running around to the back hatch of the shop. She quickly grabbed the war bag from the back as the hatch opened, slamming the hatch shut as she ran towards the house. The front door was open as she pulled the handle for the storm door, stepping inside the house.

“Please, I don’t think he is breathing.” Cried the older woman from where she knelt on the floor. “I don’t- please help my boy.”

Lucy threw the war bag down onto the hardwood, two of her fingers immediately going to the neck of the man lying on the floor, checking for a pulse.

“What did he take?” She asked, checking his arms for track marks.

“Heroin I assume, it was his drug of choice. He’d been clean for so long I don’t- I don’t understand what- help him.”

Lucy rummaged through the side pocket of the war bag, grabbing the nasal spray, twisting the adapter and popping off the syringe cap, squeezing it into each nostril, releasing the medicine inside.

“How old is he?” She asked, looking for any response from the person laying in the floor.

“19. Is he- Is he going to make it?” the mother asked somberly as she moved away.

Lucy had opened her mouth to tell the mother she could not make that determination when backup arrived.

“What’ve we got?” Another officer asked as he stepped through the entry.

“19-year-old male overdosed likely on Heroin. I found a faint pulse, but he has been unresponsive since arriving on scene. I’ve administered Narcan once with no change.”

“Let’s hit him again.” He said, pulling another cannula out of his own bag, handing it to Lucy. She administered the medicine as her backup radioed in.

“Dispatch advise the Med Unit we have administered Narcan times two with-“

“He’s not breathing!” Lucy said as she placed her ear next to his mouth, watching his chest. “Beginning CPR.”

She began the chest compressions, pushing hard and fast as she felt the ribs beneath her hands break.

“Dispatch be advised, patient is not breathing, patient is not breathing.” Spoke the other officer into his handheld before turning to Lucy. “I brought in my shop’s AED, does your war bag have an Ambu Bag?”

Lucy continued counting in her head, pushing on the unresponsive man’s chest. “Yes.” She told him as he got to work setting up the automated external defibrillator, quickly cutting off his shirt and sticking the white pads onto the chest and side before he connected the leads to the machine.

The machine began talking, giving step by step instructions. _‘Device charged. Remove hands from patient.’_

“Clear!” Lucy yelled as she took her hands off his chest, the other officer removing the ambu bag from the face as the device shocked the man’s body. _‘No pulse continue CPR.’_ The device told them as it recharged, her hands taking back over their original position of pressing into the chest as the other officer continued pumping breaths.

_‘Device charged. Remove hands from patient.’_

“Clear!” she yelled again, removing her hands.

_‘No pulse continue CPR.’_

“Switch.” The other officer, Lucy now recognizing him as Officer Jacobs took over compressions as she tried to catch her own breath, grabbing the bag to take over pushing breaths into the patient. The front door opened again, revealing that LA Fire and EMS had arrived on scene.

“19-year-old male overdosed on Heroin. He’s had two doses of Narcan with no change. He stopped breathing about five minutes ago, CPR was started, we’ve shocked twice with no conversion.”

“Continue compressions, let’s hit him with 1cc of Naloxone.” The paramedic instructed, pulling out a vile and syringe, filling it before jabbing it into the muscle of the patient’s upper arm. “Stop compressions.”

 _‘Come on.’_ Lucy began chanting in her head.

“Dana, go grab the LUCAS device off the truck. Preese and Riley take over for them. Hall, help me board him. Once he’s strapped down, let’s get him out to the stretches and we’ll attach the LUCAS.”

Lucy moved back as one of the others in the room took over the bag, another person moving to take over compressions as they moved the backboard underneath.

Everything happened fast, one minute they were still attempting to resuscitate, the next the ambulance was leaving, running hot and fast to the hospital.

“Ma’am, I know you want to go to the hospital, but I am going to need for you to tell me what happened.” Lucy said shakily as she reached for her pen and notebook, her eyes dancing over the mess in front of them before turning to the woman sitting in the chair. “Ma’am?”

“How could this have happened?” the woman asked as she stared ahead, her voice lacking any kind of emotion. “Mikey, he was doing so good. He had gotten clean, gotten a job and was even looking at apartments. I don’t understand.”

Lucy’s throat tightened. “I’m afraid I do not have an answer.”

It took a while, but Lucy was able to get a statement. Ms. Karla Willhite had run out to the store, grabbing groceries for the next few days, returning to find her son Michael, laying in the floor. Karla immediately called 911 and Lucy knew what happened next.

“I should have known. I shouldn’t have left him alone.” Karla began crying, repeating the words as Lucy waited with her for a neighbor who was taking her to the hospital. Once she was on her way, Lucy hopped in her shop, trailing after them.

An hour later, Lucy felt as though her body was on autopilot. She returned to the precinct, parking her shop in the garage, returning her gun and war bag. With a one-track mind, she made it to the locker room, changing out of her uniform and packing it into her duffle before changing back into her own clothes. Heaving the black duffle on her shoulder, she walked out of the station, loading her things into her car and drove out of the parking lot.

She could feel the tears falling down her face as she drove, her body beginning to shake as she tried to keep in her emotions, biting her cheek to hold them back as she rolled the windows down and turned the music up, hoping the wind and music would help. Her mind was still on autopilot as it told her body to drive in the opposite direction of her apartment, taking her twenty minutes east. She arrived on the quiet street, steering her car to the curb, placing the gearshift into park when the dam of emotions broke.

It was not clear on how long Lucy sat there, her face in her hands as she cried, her sobs filling the cab of the car, masking the sound of the driver side door opening. A hand reached across her body, hitting the button to unlatch the seatbelt at her side before two hands gently grabbed her, pulling her out of the car, wrapping her in a hug.

“Hey.” He whispered into her hair. Lucy fisted his shirt as the smell of his body wash overcame her, another round of sobs wracked her body. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

She could feel her body being hoisted as she was moved, the sound of the front door shutting behind them before feeling something soft underneath her.

“Raise your arms.” He requested as she lifted her arms, her sobs residing into hiccups though the tears still fell as the top she wore was removed, something bigger and softer falling onto her frame, taking its place. “Stand up.” He asked softly as she stood, her arms by her side as he helped her out of her jeans before gently pushing her back onto the bed as his hands worked at the laces of her boots.

“Tim.” She said, her hoarse voice tremoring as he removed the last shoe.

“Shhh… I’m right here Lucy.” He comforted her, sitting down beside her as she curled in on herself towards the head of the bed. He grabbed the weighted blanket from where it stayed on the footboard, moving it up as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into him before his free hand reached for the blanket, covering them both, one of her hands fisting his shirt. “I’m right here Luce, I’m not going anywhere.” He whispered before placing a soft kiss to her forehead as she cried into his chest.

Time passed, the light in the room beginning to fade as her cries of despair eased, the night growing near.

“He was nineteen.” She said sniffling.

Tim moved his left hand, rubbing her arm. “Car accident?”

Lucy shook her head. “Heroin. The ER doc said there’s a bad batch in the area right now.”

“Jackson called me, noticed something was up when you walked right past him at the station.”

Lucy sighed, “I never- I never even seen him.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Lucy pulled back, her eyes moving to stare at the man holding her in his arms. “He was alive when I got there, I felt- I felt a pulse so I administered Narcan, then Jacobs got on scene so we gave it to him again and he stopped- he stopped breathing and I couldn’t- we couldn’t-“

Tim held her tighter as she worked herself up. “Don’t say that, you done everything you could.”

“But maybe if I would have-“

“Lucy stop, you’re not the one who made him go down the path he did.”

The room fell quiet, only the sounds of their breathing and the ceiling fan above could be heard.

“His mom, she was in shock at the scene, but by the time she made it to the hospital, she was already at peace.” She whispered.

His fingers trailed her back, “She knew with him using there was always the possibility of him not coming back. She likely made peace with it a long time ago.”

“I need you to promise me something.” She told him suddenly as she pulled back, staring into his eyes. “I’m not going to sign a DNR but I need you to promise me that if I can’t be saved you’ll let me go.”

Tim’s eyes grew wide, his mouth opening in shock. “Lucy I can’t-“

“Promise me Tim.” She begged, her red and swollen eyes watering again. “Promise me that if something happens, something that I cannot come back from… I know you’ll try everything in the world to fix me but if none of that- none of that works then you’ll let me go.”

The heaviness of the conversation settled as she waited for him to answer. “Ok.” He whispered, his eyes watering at the thought. “But not without trying everything possible. I can’t lose you Luce.”

“I know and I hope you never will.” she told him honestly as she took in a deep breath, the weight on her shoulders easing. “I’ll always make it back to you.”

He sighed, sitting up. “If we’re going to talk about this now… You need to know that I would be ok with whatever choice you make for me Lucy, you’re it for me. I know I don’t tell you enough, but I love you so damn much and it scares the absolute shit out of me.”

“I know.” She said, placing a kiss on his shoulder.

“You hungry?”

She wasn’t but she knew she needed to eat something after skipping lunch. “Not really, but I may eat something light.”

“I’ll fix us some soup, you go hop in the shower and by the time you’re done, dinner will be ready, ok?”

Lucy nodded as he walked out of the bedroom, her bare feet hitting the hardwood underneath as she padded to the bathroom. She knew going into this job that you have to take the good days with the bad and at one point she was afraid she would have to go through much of her first few years alone. But now, three years later she knew, standing in the bathroom of her former training officer and now boyfriend that whatever life threw at her next, she would never have to face it alone.


End file.
